The Subtle Investor

How I Finally Started Investing (and Why It Took So Long)

why investing took me so long

Despite working in finance since 2011, I hesitated to invest my own money, held back by fear and imposter syndrome. It wasn’t until I saw this one thing in real portfolios that I realized what I was missing out on. Coming from an ethnic minority background, where investing wasn’t a common practice, I knew I had to break the cycle. Here is why it took me so long and how I overcame my fears and embraced investing as the key to long-term wealth building.

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Three ways to pay less tax on savings

Paying less tax on savings

My monthly mortgage cost doubled. But I also got ~5% pay increase from my employer along with securing a savings rate of 4% with my bank. But all this followed a painful inflation rate hitting 11.1% in 2022 and interest rate hike to its highest since the GFC.

All of these significantly increased the amount of taxes I am paying – I needed to actively do something. Here’s what I did.

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UK Mortgage Mayhem: are we becoming a “developing” country?

Mortgage Mayhem UK

UK housing were already extremely unaffordable. And most households were paying a high portion of their salary towards mortgages (also rents). We have one of the highest inflation rates within the developed world, and now even competing to look “better” against developing countries where inflation has fallen back down very quickly. To make the cost-of-living crisis worse, mortgage rates have started to hit the roof. High interest rates are hardly getting passed on to savers. And even if they did, do most of us have anything left over to even save?

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This is how I met ALL my Financial Goals

how to meet financial goals

Every year, roughly 50% of people make new year resolutions, some particularly tied to financial goals. And roughly 90% of those people fail to meet those resolutions.

With the current UK population of 67 million people, that’s just over 3 million people who ends up making it.

I always tell myself; this is the year. And I am ready for a change. Mostly I don’t make it.

But last year, I did something pretty exciting. I managed to tick off all of my financial resolutions for 2021. And I plan to do the same this year too.

Here is how.

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Why high inflation won’t last for too long

High inflation remains one of the most cited concerns for policymakers and consumers like me and you. With large inflation prints coming out month after month, there’s no surprise that it is making everyone a little uneasy.

But I am here to explain why inflation figures are likely come down around mid next year and remain low over the long-term.

This is not just my personal view, but the view shared by all the heads of central banks in the UK, Europe, and US, plus the IMF.

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How to invest during inflation and manage finances

There is a reason why inflation is known as the “Silent Killer”. It creeps up and takes away your purchasing power over time. Inflation has been under the limelight so far this year and why wouldn’t it be? Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) have risen to 5.4% year-on-year last month in the US, compared to the Central Bank’s average 2% target. In the UK, the number stands at 2.4%. Don’t underestimate the intensity of this little number which affects everything – from individuals to countries and then rest of the world!

This post is all about our current level of high inflation and whether it will remain high for a long time. If so, how should we invest during inflation and what it will mean for our finances? 

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